Report: MLB offers Rodriguez deal on ban

Yankees slugger could face ban for life

By The Sports Xchange

UPDATED 4:56 PM EDT Jul 29, 2013

Alex Rodriguez is facing a lifetime ban from baseball as a result of evidence obtained through the Biogenesis probe, but Major League Baseball is offering Rodriguez a deal to soften the ban, according to the New York Daily News.

If Rodriguez agrees to a suspension for the rest of this season and all of the 2014 season, he would not be banned for life.

Accepting that deal would allow Rodriguez to return to the Yankees in 2015. Major League Baseball wants Rodriguez to respond to its offer by Monday.

The ban through 2014 would probably end Rodriguez's baseball career, but he's still set to make $60 million in three years after 2014. It would also allow Rodriguez to put the issue behind him.

If A-Rod rejects the deal, and Major League Baseball successfully suspends him for the rest of his life, he will lose more than $60 million.

However, Rodriguez may decide to fight the suspension instead of agreeing to a shorter ban.

"If there is a suspension," a source told the Daily News, "he will fight it."

If Rodriguez rejects the deal, an announcement of the lifetime ban could come Monday or Tuesday.

Rodriguez is recovering from offseason hip surgery and has not played in the major leagues this season. A rehab stint was cut short last week when a quad injury surfaced while playing in a Triple-A game. He returned to the Yankees' complex in Tampa, Fla., for treatment and possibly to await MLB's announcement.

The New York Post indicated that Major League Baseball wants to announce at one time the suspensions of all players allegedly involved before there are fewer than 50 games remaining in the regular season.

The typical penalty for an initial PED offense is 50 games, and most of those reported to be involved are first-time violators.